Thursday, February 19, 2009

Back last fall, my wife had a routine medical checkup. It included having a mammogram taken. When the radiologist reviewed the films, he saw a shadow he didn't like. He discussed it with my wife and her doctor, and they all agreed that a biopsy should be performed. So in early December, she spent a morning in the surgery clinic while they stuck some needles in through the side of her breast, and snipped out bits of tissue.

Just before Christmas, we got the initial word: not cancerous. So after the holidays, they went over the results. The radiologist wasn't happy. The mass was tough, fibrous. The sample they had gotten was much smaller than he would have liked. In his experience, over 80% of masses like that proved to be cancerous. He recommended doing another, surgical, biopsy, to get a larger sample. The doctor left it up to my wife. They could go back in, or, since the test came back clean, they could wait, and watch it to see if it changed.

In my wife's opinion, it was obviously something that shouldn't be there. If they went back in, was there any reason not to remove it completely? Both her doctor and the radiologist agreed that it would be a logical thing to do.

On February 9, she spent another morning in surgery. They removed a fibroid mass with a volume of eight cubic centimeters (about the size of a golf ball). It was rather deep, right against the chest wall, so it had been very difficult to feel. This time she had a couple of incisions, about an inch or so long each, again along the outside of her breast. More painful, and much more bleeding/bruising, that the needle biopsy.

This morning, she had her initial post-op appointment. The verdict: no cancer.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It's awesome what getting a blog post picked up by a feed can do for your stats. On my computer blog, I usually get 10 - 12 hits per day. Sometimes, though, a post gets picked up by a feed service, and the numbers skyrocket.

About Me

I retired from the US Air Force in 1996, after over 20 years on active duty. I have held many positions in my life, from pushing broom and pumping gas, to maintaining nuclear weapons, to writing software used by US forces around the globe. I have been married for over 35 years to the same wonderful woman. We have a son and a daughter, and they have given us five beautiful grandchildren.